Reversing mechanism.



s. H. COCHRAN & w. E. oww.

REV-ERSING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26. 1915.

Patented. Feb. 1, 1916.

si/IITII II. oocIiRN Ani) WILL-Iainy E. cLoWfoI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

REVERSING MECHANISM.

' ricatti.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1l, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, SMITH H. Uooiiimx andWILLIAM E. CLow, citizens of the United States, and residents ofChicago, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Iniprovements in Reversing Mechanism, of whichthe following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a novel reversing mechanism particularlyadapted for use in reversing .the movements of a washingfmal chinecylinder. I' As is well known, it is desirable to provide means forautomatically reversing the direction of rotation of certain mechanicalelements after a predetermined numberl of revolutions in eitherdirection. This is particularly true in the operation .of certain typesof washing machines. In such-devices the cylinder cr .drum is usuallyrotated in one direction for a short time, then autoin-atically reversedand rotated 'in the opposite direction.. A device which will accomplishthis result without the possibility of becoming out of order or beingsubject to excessive wear is desirable. Suchl a de- Avice is disclosedherein. l

The essential features of this application are comprised inl a drivenelement provided with a spiral groove on one face there of, a driveshaft disposed across the face of said driven element and aclutch, theclutch being operated to engage alternately certain intermediate gearslocated on opposite sides. of the driven element, the clutch beingshifted by coperation with stops 1o cated in the spiral groove andacting as the terminals of such groove.

The invention may be more readily underH` stood by reference to thedrawings, whereinl.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a reversing accompanying mechanismconstructed in accordance with ings it will be seen that vwithin 'a boXor casl our invention, and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 Fig. l.

Referring more particularly to the drawing 10 is mounted a bevel gear11- having in this instance an integral stub shaft 12- which may engagethe drum or cylinder of awashing machine or any other device which isadapted to rotate alternately in opposite directions. The gear 11 isprovided with gear teeth 13 at its marginal edge. W'ithin the body ofthe gear and regularly disposed onthe facethereof is a spiral groove 14.

j thereto,

Disposed in each turn of the groove and arranged in the present instancein. a radial line are threaded recesses l5, within which .screws 16, 17may be placed. These screws 60 kact as stops and define the operativelength or extent of the spiral. Coperating with this groove is a pin 18carried by a block 19 slidably mounted on a levei 20, which lever ispivoted at 21 to the casing 10 and 65 has a complementary member 22riveted the parts 2O and 22 forming a yoke which enters acircumferential recess formedvin a sleeve 23.' This sleeve is splined toa drive sliaft 24 and is provided With a 70 clutch 25, A2G on oppositeends thereof. The yoke member and the sleeve are adapted to be'held ineither oftheir two positions by `means 'of a coil spring 27 connected tothe member and to the casing 10 and placed '7 5 under comparison. Themember 20 projects through the casing 10 as shown at 28 and acts as ahandle by means of which the clutch may be manually operated. Beveledpinions 29-30 yare loosely mounted on the 80 drive shaft 2.4, thesepinions engaging on diametricallyopposite sides with gear teeth laof themember 11. y It will be seen that when the sleeve has clutched thepinion 30, as shown in Fig. 1,

the large gear 11 will be rotated in one direction. However, when theclutch is thrown to engage the pinion 29 the gear 11' p will lbe rotatedin the opposite direction al.

though the drive shaft 24 rotates in the same 9C direction in each case.The sleeve or clutch member is automatically actuated iii the followingmanner: After determining the number of revolutions of the driven member-which are desired the screws 16, 17 are 9,5

located in the respective grooves. In the setting shown in Fig. 1 thedriven member would be given five'l revolutions when the pin 18 wouldstrike one of the screws-and throw the clutch out of engagement with onepin- 10Q ion and into engagement with the other, whereupon the directionof rot'ation would be reversed and the pin would travel backward in thespiral groove for five complete revolutions when the opposite screwwould be contacted and the machine versed.

It will be seen that this construction is so simple that parts could noteasilyvbecome again reout 0forder and very little wear isl 'occa-=110sioned. This is particularly true for the reason that the entiremechanism may be thereto.

'. member forsalternately \connec ting saidV inclosedwithin the casingl0, said casing filled with grease andA a cover, 31 applied Obviouslythe construction is ca pable of considerable modification Aand such.modifications as are within the scope of our power transmission meansto ,a source of power, substantially as described.

2. In a reversing mechanism, the combination of a rotatable elementprovided with a spiral guide-way thereon, means for'adjusting theoperative length of said guideway, -a shaft extending across the face ofsaid `rotatable element and provided .with

gears on opposite sides of the aXi-s of rotation of said rotatableelement, a clutch and means operative lin the spiral guide-way forshifting said clutch and connecting said` shaft to saidrotatableelemeritby' means of either of'said gears, substantially as de' scribed.

3. In a reversing mechanism, the'combination of a gearhaving a spiralgroove in one face thereof, a shaft extending across i l the face ofsaid gear, pinions loosely mounted on said shaft anden'gaging saidge'ar,a

clutch member splined to said shaft and movableto alternately engagesaid pinions, and means for shifting said clutch, Asaid shiftingmeans-including a pin slidable in `said groove, substantially'asdescribed.

4. In a reversing mechanism, the combination-.otI a driven memberprovided with a spiral groove,'`m`eans for adjusting the operativelength-' of said groove, a` driving member, power transmission meansbetween said driving andv `driven members, said power transmission meansbeing located on diametrically opposite sides of said driven member, aclutch `for `alternately connecting one'of said power 'transmissionmeans to said driven member, and means operative in sald groove foryactuating said clutch,v substantially as described;V

5 ..In a reversing-mechanism, the combinatlon'of. agear havingasymmetrical splral groove on one facethereof, stops constitutingtheends of said groove, a shaft disposed .across the face of said gearpinions loosely mountedon said shaft and engaging oppio;l

4site sides of' said gear, a clutch lmember splined to said 'shaft andadapted to alter# nately'engage said pinions, a lever for actuating saidclutch, said lever being provided with a pin entering said-groove and bycontact with said stops cause the shifting of v said clutch,substantiallyas described.

i SMITH H. COCHRAN. WILLIAM E. CLOVV.

Witnesses:

T. B. BUTLER, i C. Browns.1

